This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Welcome to the world's leading forum on Multiple Sclerosis research, support, and knowledge. For over 10 years, This is MS has provided an unbiased community dedicated to Multiple Sclerosis patients, caregivers, and affected loved ones.

Scientists are to investigate why people with low cholesterol levels appear to be more likely to develop Parkinson's disease, following concerns that statins - given to control cholesterol - could cause an increase in the numbers of people with the illness. About 2.3 million adults in the UK take statins to help control their cholesterol levels; the American scientists have found that those with lower levels of cholesterol are more likely to develop the degenerative neurological disorder of Parkinson's disease.

The link between statins and Parkinson's is not yet understood, and health charities last night urged caution. But the scientists behind the research warn that if they get confirmation of the finding, in their follow-up study of 16,000 people, there could be a surge in Parkinson's diagnoses in the next five years as the effects of the drug set in. The initial study compared 124 people diagnosed with Parkinson's with a control group of 112. They found that the people with low levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol were in excess of three times more likely to be in the Parkinson's group than those with high cholesterol.

But they also found that those in the trial who took statins were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, though the study's leader suggested this could be because the group with Parkinson's had had low cholesterol all their lives and that the effect of low cholesterol could be cumulative.

Statins are the world's biggest selling drug. The drug company Pfizer reported sales of $12.2bn (£6.2bn) for its statin, Lipitor, in 2005. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence last year recommended more people take them in the UK, raising the number of customers from 2.3 million to 5.2 million.

The head of the study, Xuemei Huang, at the University of North Carolina, said: "I'm definitely concerned [about the initial findings] which is why I'm conducting a prospective study of 16,000 people."

People should not stop taking statins, she said. The risk of heart disease in those who should be taking statins far outweighed the risk of developing Parkinson's.

The study, which is reported today in the journal Chemistry and Industry, has raised more questions than it has answered. It has not, for example, established whether low cholesterol is a cause or consequence of Parkinson's.

David Dexter, senior lecturer in neuropharmacology at Imperial College London, said: "Although the association is worrying, the study was carried out only in a small number of subjects and hence needs confirming in a larger population. Lower LDL-C levels may also be a consequence of Parkinson's and not a cause. Indeed, the study did not take into account the dietary intake of the two groups in the study, [which] may be important since some Parkinson's patients find it difficult to eat or even swallow food, thus reducing the intake of fats."

Dr Huang said the well-established link between Parkinson's and apoE2, a gene associated with lower LDL cholesterol, supported her theory that low LDL was the culprit in many cases of Parkinson's.

Kieran Breen, director of research at the Parkinson's Disease Society, said people should be wary of such a small study. "Further research into any link between low LDL cholesterol and cholesterol-lowering drugs with Parkinson's is needed. We hope that the proposed study will shed further light on this. The exact causes of Parkinson's are unknown. Research is ongoing. It is generally understood that Parkinson's [arises] from genetic and environmental factors."

Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "We are concerned that any suggestion of a link between statins and Parkinson's disease would unnecessarily scare the millions of people benefiting from statins in the UK. There is no evidence to suggest that statins cause [the] disease. On the other hand, there is overwhelming evidence that statins save lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes."

Advertisement

Well, if those in the trial who took statins were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease then it looks as though statins aren't the real culprit but the relevant gene which gives the low cholesterol. Mmm. Not enough to scare me off asking for statins, though.

Nice post JFH, thanks.
I foresee more such studies against statins in the nearest future will appear.
Statins is a perfect example how extreme commercialization of modern medicine takes over common sense and eventually will create more health problem than benefits.
I would like to remaind u the origin of hyperlipidemy theory - back to the beginning of the 20th century. The Soviet scientist fed rabbits (using force of course) with fat, which complitely unusual for such animals. Amount of the fat was enormous, compare to humans - like 2 kg of butter daily. After several months the aorta of rabbits showed huge plaquies of lipids. So it was proposed as a leading sourse for atherosclerosis. But the distribution of these lipid plaquies didn't match the distribution in humans, majority of plaqiues were in abdominal aorta, the heart vessels were CLEAN. Anyway it was claimed as the great discovery/success of the Soviet science at that time.
Western scientists opposed this "discovery" for a long years, they even proved it wrong, until it was recovered, dusted out and deployed now for profit purpose.

Well, always read small print at the bootom of the TV screen, even when Dr. Jarvick tells u that Lipitor will save your heart

Kind regards,
Tony

PS. Parkinson Disease could get worse under statins treatment. Wait for more studies.

TonyJegs wrote:Well, always read small print at the bootom of the TV screen, even when Dr. Jarvick tells u that Lipitor will save your heart

I remember when I started statins, my doctor was quite upset that my cholesterol didnt change all that much. However, I didnt have a cholesterol issue to begin with. Now it scares me a little how low it is.

TonyJegs wrote:PS. Parkinson Disease could get worse under statins treatment. Wait for more studies.

Right now I take it to avoid MS, as I would expect most on this site that take them would also. Still sounds a little less scary than the current immediate threat of MS for me.

Who is online

This site does not offer, or claim to offer, medical, legal, or professional advice.
All treatment decisions should always be made with the full knowledge of your physicians.
This is MS does not create, endorse, or republish any content.
All postings are the responsibility of the poster. All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owners. All users must respect our rules for intellectual property rights.